Awards and Festivals
National Broadcast on PBS's "POV"
Directing Award, Cinetopia Film Festival
Best Documentary Feature, Social Justice Award, Charlotte Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
Port Townsend Film Festival

Tribal JusticeDocuments an effective criminal justice reform movement in America: the efforts of tribal courts to return to traditional, community-healing concepts of justice.

TRIBAL JUSTICE is a feature documentary about a little known, underreported but effective criminal justice reform movement in America today: the efforts of tribal courts to create alternative justice systems based on their traditions. In California, the state with the largest number of Indian people and tribes, two formidable Native American women are among those leading the way. Abby Abinanti, Chief Judge of the Yurok Tribe on the northwest coast, and Claudette White, Chief Judge of the Quechan Tribe in the southeastern desert, are creating innovative systems that focus on restoring rather than punishing offenders in order to keep tribal members out of prison, prevent children from being taken from their communities, and stop the school-to-prison pipeline that plagues their young people.

Abby Abinanti is a fierce, lean, elder. Claudette White is younger, and her courtroom style is more conventional in form; but like Abby, her goal is to provide culturally relevant justice to the people who come before her. Observational footage of these judges' lives and work provides the backbone of the documentary, while the heart of the film follows offenders as their stories unfold over time, in and out of court. These other stories unfold over time, engaging viewers with the dedication of the judges, the humanity of the people who come before them, and a vision of justice that can actually work.

Through the film, audiences will gain a new understanding of tribal courts and their role in the survival of Indian people. The film will also inspire those working in the mainstream legal field to consider new ways of implementing problem-solving and restorative justice, lowering our staggering incarceration rates and enabling offenders to make reparations and rebuild their lives.

Reviews"Raw and honest, Tribal Justice takes an unflinching look at criminal justice in Indian country...Alongside a fearless portrayal of reservation life and those caught up in the criminal justice system, this film highlights the potentially redemptive force of restorative justice in tribal communities. It's not to be missed."

Angela R. Riley, Professor of Law, Director of Native Nations Law and Policy Center, University of California, Los Angeles

"A lovely, bittersweet film about an intensely delicate subject."

John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal

"Tribal Justice is an emotional and moving story about some of the issues facing American Indian communities and tribal attempts to use court systems for restorative justice and healing instead of just to punish. This movie shows the innovative and culturally appropriate efforts of tribal governments in California, and two native female judges in particular, who are working to improve the lives of the parties in court and their communities at large."

Robert J. Miller (Eastern Shawnee), Professor of Law, Director of Rosette LLP American Indian Economic Development Program, Arizona State University

"Tribal Justice is about bringing traditional balance back to the lives of Native Americans when in crisis. The film is a powerful testament on the strength of Tribal Courts to hold together communities, sovereignty, and law."

Angelique EagleWoman (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota), Dean and Professor of Law, Lakehead University, Co-author, Mastering American Indian Law

"Tribal Justice provides a compelling and humane face for tribal sovereignty...We meet fellow tribal members whose struggles with poverty, alienation, substance abuse and violence inevitably bring them to the attention of their tribal courts and, in the process, to traditional Indigenous justice systems that emphasize restoration and healing, instead of retribution and ostracism. The outcomes are not always successful, but in this clear-eyed and honest film, we gain a sense of the humanity residing within the tribal justice system and with it, the optimism for tribal communities to succeed on their own terms."

N. Bruce Duthu, Professor of Native American Studies, Dartmouth College, Author, American Indians and the Law

"A beautifully shot and incredibly moving portrayal of the strengths and challenges of tribal communities today. I learned a lot from it, even though I have lived and worked on reservations, and written about tribes and Indian law throughout my career...High school, college, and graduate level classes on many subjects--indigenous peoples, criminal justice, family law, women's leadership, and substance abuse, just to name a few--would be enriched by showing this film."

Bethany Berger, Professor of Law, University of Connecticut

"A very poignant and heart-wrenching documentary depicting the painful struggles of Indigenous people in the United States to break from the colonizing cycle of drug addiction and family fragmentation...The instructive roles played by Yoruk Chief Judge Abby Abinanti and Quechan Chief Judge Claudette White can be of significant benefit to U.S. criminal justice."

"Excellent new film...Judges Abinanti and White use the sheer weight and velocity of the powers of the settler state not to terrify their charges, but to remind them that the tribe is present in the physical body of every member. This is why one must take care of oneself...In the end, everyone must leave together and drive down the same roads, live on the same Reservation, and take their kids to the same schools. The direction of tribal justice is circular rather than vertical."

Martin Billheimer, CounterPunch

"Tribal Justice is to be commended for showing how native peoples are trying to take control of their own destiny using the survival skills that will ultimately be necessary for the rest of us to live: respecting mother earth and respecting humanity."